Old Estes Design of the Month Entries/Winners?

[lamart72]

A post by Blades in Scratch-built got me thinking about the old Estes Design of the Month Contest. I remember reading the contest entries when I was younger and seeing several names that always seemed to be entered every month.
Is there anyone here on TRF that entered and actually won or got an honorable mention?


Lamar

 

[idtent2003]

I found this while searching the web. https://www.estesrockets.com/Design_of_the_Quarte1138.html

 

[Stymye]

I believe pete alway had (2) , the sat IV(zubenubi or something like that) and the saturn I.

yes ,there really are some other members here that have that honor.

 

[Fishhead]

https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18748&highlight=top+secret

 

[o1d_dude]

A post by Blades in Scratch-built got me thinking about the old Estes Design of the Month Contest. I remember reading the contest entries when I was younger and seeing several names that always seemed to be entered every month.
Is there anyone here on TRF that entered and actually won or got an honorable mention?


Lamar

Fire up The Way Back Machine!

I discovered the attached Honorable Mention plan in a package from Estes dating back to October of 1979. The design itself is dated June 1978.

Did a bit of research and discovered the designer lives near Austin, TX. Does he frequent TRF? Beats me.

View attachment 254040

 

[Fishhead]

I had an entry all ready to go until I found out that you actually had to build, fly and PHOTOGRAPH the model. Mine came about when I was farting around a construction site and found a packet of stickers while hunting for treasures in a garbage can. They were very cool stickers, foil with a black lettering that said "MAIN BREAKER". It also had some numbers and stuff, and I instantly thought ROCKET NAME! I went home and drew up a design that went into the "design folder" (an old Columbia House Records mailer,) that I kept hidden in the downstairs couch. One day I came home and found that the couch had gone to the curb since the last time I was in the basement. It was almost as difficult a loss as my original rockets.:wink:

 

[Joe_Shockcord]

Ted Nomura designed the Orbital Transport Laboratory OTL-7A, which was the June 1971 DOM winner. He went on to illustrate comic books and still lives in Las Vegas.

 

[FastCargo]

Ted Nomura designed the Orbital Transport Laboratory OTL-7A, which was the June 1971 DOM winner. He went on to illustrate comic books and still lives in Las Vegas.

I believe he also had another DOM winner...I think a Ohka or something like that.

And this was part of his comics...

FC

 

[LW Bercini]

Here is a DOM winner

I am cross-posting it from the "Favorite Rocket Ever Built" thread.

 

[RodRocket]

I don't know why but the designer of the Starburst rings a bell.

Is he a member of this forum? Maybe I saw his name on the registration for a past AIRfest? Can't place him but I have seen the name.

Cool design too. I have some tubing and may just build a Starburst. I think there is enough info on that sheet to go from.

That aircraft above by Ted Nomura, I see a little bit of the X-wings from Star Wars.

 

[georgegassaway]

In 1985, I entered my "Star Spangled D Bird", which won.

About 6 feet tall, BT-80, two D12's clustered (slightly skewed mounts to make it do a slow roll. And twice it has survived a single D12 boost thanks to that slow roll rather than pitching over like a non-rolling clustered rocket would).

Still have and fly it. Although later I made a new lower body with a 29mm mount. but the last few times I have flown it, it has been with the original twin D12 cluster body. It is also a lot of fun to fly Chad-staged, the best was two E9's in the main body, each with its own D12-0 taped underneath.

North Coast Rocketry later kitted it as the "Star Spangled G Bird" but with HPR-rated parts that made it so heavy that theirs flew lower on a G than mine can on an F.

And thru the years, many rockets have had the same kind of paint scheme….. some purely coincidental i'm sure… but not all.

More info at this link:

https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?507-Tall-Rockets&p=6043#post6043

In the pics below, it was flown on live TV during a local morning TV show, promoting a big sport launch we were holding.

Not bad for a 30-year old rocket…..

- George Gassaway

 

[RodRocket]

Damn, now I gotta add some BT-80 tubing and parts to my BMS order next week!

Cool rocket George!

Thanks for sharing!

 

[KSoldier]

I was an honorable mention for my rocket design for "The Villian." I had my name published in "Model Rocket News" and still have that issue somewhere. I'll see what I can find in my storage shed and post some photos and a copy of the plans.

 

[Illya Leonov]

A post by Blades in Scratch-built got me thinking about the old Estes Design of the Month Contest. I remember reading the contest entries when I was younger and seeing several names that always seemed to be entered every month.
Is there anyone here on TRF that entered and actually won or got an honorable mention?


Lamar

Yes Lamar, I actually won the contest way back in 1969 with my design, "The Constrictor." http://www.spacemodeling.org/jimz/eirp_69.htm

 

[kuririn]

I believe he also had another DOM winner...I think a Ohka or something like that.

Adding to this necro thread, Ted Nomura's Ohka based design was called the Kamikaze Baka .
eirp_70.pdf (spacemodeling.org)
My slightly modified clone:


Subbed cardstock cuz I was having a problem replicating the clear plastic canopy.
Also used regular nose blow instead of rear ejection.

 

[Cape Byron]

Adding to this necro thread, Ted Nomura's Ohka based design was called the Kamikaze Baka .
eirp_70.pdf (spacemodeling.org)
My slightly modified clone:


Subbed cardstock cuz I was having a problem replicating the clear plastic canopy.
Also used regular nose blow instead of rear ejection.

Flight report? Mine went horizontal and scared the snot out of all present.

 

[kuririn]

Flight report? Mine went horizontal and scared the snot out of all present.

I will send her up at the next opportunity. Forecast is windy/breezy for at least the next 7 days.
When I launch I'll make sure to have plenty of Kleenex handy.

 

[proflaser]

My model was named "Chernobyl" and won some gift certificate but was never published in MRN. I did better in the photography contests.

 

[BABAR]

My model was named "Chernobyl" and won some gift certificate but was never published in MRN. I did better in the photography contests.

Okay,THAT requires a picture (of the rocket, I will take your work for the certificate )

 

[Stewman]

Nah, I never won, but the first rocket I ever designed was called the Skyscraper II. Wasn't too bad for 15 years old. Did enter it in the DOM contest to no avail.
It still flies today, but has been repaired numerous times.

 

[kuririn]

Flight report? Mine went horizontal and scared the snot out of all present.

I will send her up at the next opportunity. Forecast is windy/breezy for at least the next 7 days.
When I launch I'll make sure to have plenty of Kleenex handy.

She launched today.
Good flight on a Quest B6-4.
No landing damage.


And the flight video.

 

[Cape Byron]

She launched today.
Good flight on a Quest B6-4.
No landing damage.
View attachment 477591

And the flight video.

Excellent work and a great video. Well done!

 

[RoyAtl]

I rarely entered and never won anything, but in 2015 a guy called me up, said his wife wanted him to get rid of his rocket stuff, so we all met at a breakfast place and he transferred two big Estes boxes (when they used to ship in square-ended white boxes) with 1970's postmarks to the back seat of my car. When I examined them the following weekend, I found a bunch of receipts that indicated he'd ordered all these things with certificates he'd won via DOM. They totaled about $300 (in 1975-80 dollars). Most of what I received were what was left of a bunch of designer specials, kits that were half built or kit-bashed, and a number of "experiments" that were half done. I can see why his wife wanted them out. To a non-rocketeer, they looked just like piles of trash.